


i get high with a little help from my friends

by orphan_account



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF
Genre: Gen, House Party, No Romance, Teen AU, Weed, based off of my irl experiences, ben and joe are high, big sad hours, bohrap, glum, golden goat, joe is glum, lame, loosely, losers - Freeform, pure friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 15:00:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17706482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Joe is feeling glum. That's the only way he can explain it, really. Not terribly sad or depressed or anything, just strictly glum. Perhaps it's this glum feeling that allows him to get stoned in the bathroom with a complete stranger at a house party.





	i get high with a little help from my friends

**Author's Note:**

> this is lowkey trash. i'm loosely basing this off of a random friend i made over golden goat at a party a few months ago.

_ Glum,  _ Joe thought to himself as he sat on the end of the couch.  _ I’m feeling quite glum.  _ His surroundings were loud and busy, but everything felt a bit slow, as though the real world was stuck in jelly and he was stuck in a pocket of air.  _ How bizarre _ . 

Parties were a scene he would generally feel welcome in. Joe wasn’t the anti-social type, really. He was a fun guy that most everyone knew and liked to be around, but tonight he wasn’t exactly feeling the wild vibes. Earlier that morning, Joe and his girlfriend had officially broken up after a week of isolating silence. His best friend since the kid moved next door eight years ago, Rami, wanted to go to their more popular friend, Lucy’s, party tonight so badly that he could have pissed himself, so Joe couldn’t possibly refuse him. He hadn’t even mentioned the break up to his friend yet, not really sure how to put it without feeling weird. 

“Joe, baby!” Someone yells, snapping him out of his jelly reality. 

“Allen, hey,” he says back with an awkward smile as his friend fell back onto the couch, and slinging an arm around his shoulders. 

“Joe, Joseph,” Allen smiles and hands him another beer.  _ Perhaps he’s already drunk _ . 

Allen was a senior who could befriend anyone. He had met Joe last year when he was a sophomore. The two bonded during an emergency lockdown, as the two had been in the bathroom at the time and ended getting stuck together with the principal in his office for shelter. That was a story for another day, though.

Although previously having finished the only beer he planned on having, he still took the bottle and opened it. A gift from Allen was a gift from god himself; he’d go directly to hell for denying it. Besides, Joe could hold his alcohol. 

“Thanks,” he said and cheersed him.  

“You alright? Seem a bit off tonight,” he asked. His grip around his shoulder was tight in a comforting way.

Joe nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay. Just feeling a bit self-pitiful today, I guess.”

“Aw, I’m sorry, bud. Need to talk about it?”  
“It’s cool. Don’t worry about it.” He says and gives a thumbs up. 

Allen gets pulled away soon after by some of his friends and their conversation ends at that. Joe doesn’t mind, really. It’s better than talking about his feelings in the middle of a party.   
It doesn’t take long for him to get bored of sitting on the couch and being glum. Getting up, he wanders around the house for a little bit, looking at all the details you usually don’t notice when you’re at a party. Lucy’s parents were “cool” parents and didn’t care if she had parties when they were gone or not, so she was always the one to host them. Joe’s eyes trailed the old-fashioned wallpaper, beige and patterned with baby-blue shapes. Family photos littered the walls, showing the picture-perfect family. He briefly wondered if they had as many problems as everyone else did. _Well, of course they do_. A perfect family only existed in photos. 

_ Glum, glum, glum.  _ Standing on the stairs, he could see Rami, Lucy, and their other friend, Gwilym all chatting in the kitchen. Rami’s arm was around her shoulders (reminding him of Allen earlier) as they all laughed about something that must’ve been funny. His touch seemed to be more gentle, though, not just a casual hold that you do with friends.  _ I guess that explains his attitude about the party, then. _ He could have felt annoyed that Rami hadn’t told him, but Joe never told him about the breakup. Being annoyed would waste energy that could be spent feeling glum. 

He continued upstairs instead, finding it to be surprisingly more empty and quiet than downstairs. Although with this rather peaceful vibe came a specific smell that could usually be found at any party. Lucy usually had a rule that said, “not in the house,” and some asshole apparently decided to ignore. Opening the door, Joe saw someone sitting by the open window sill immediately hide the joint and look over with wide eyes.   
“You’re not very slick, you know,” Joe said, looking around at the hazy room. Even with the window cracked, smoke had collected within the walls of the bathroom. 

“Sorry. You just surprised me,” the guy responded, pulling it back up. 

“You’re supposed to do that shit outside.” Crossing his arms, he tried racking his brain to put a name to this kid’s face, but nothing came up. 

The boy’s eyes seemed to go anywhere but facing Joe. “I didn’t know. I just came here with friends but I dunno where they went. I don’t even know whose house this is.”   
He sighed and walked over, plopping down next to him on the sill. “Not your fault, I guess. At least open this thing all the way, dude.” Opening the window all the way, the two could look out and see some people in the front lawn sitting in a semi-circle and having a loud conversation. “What strain?”   
“Golden goat. Do you want a hit?” 

“Why not?”   
He passed Joe the joint and watched him draw into his mouth. “What’s your name?” He asked upon Joe exhale a thin stream of smoke. 

“Joe. What about you? I’ve never seen you before.”   
“Ben. But, uh, hi… Joe.” Ben gave a small nod, taking the joint back. 

They passed it back and forth for a little while before Joe spoke again. 

“How long have you been in this weed sauna you’ve created?”   
“Maybe twenty minutes before you showed up. I’m not high yet, if that’s what you’re asking.” 

“Cool,” Joe said softly, not really relating his actual response to what Ben had said. 

“Cool,” Ben repeated with a smile. “So what’s with you? I thought you were going to kick me out of the house but then you immediately join?”   
“Just wanted to relax, maybe.”   
“Well, buddy, you maybe picked the wrong way to relax.”   
Joe didn’t understand what this meant until a little over an hour and a half later. He and Ben had made their way downstairs, too jittery to stay still in the bathroom. He giggled, feeling more awake than ever. God, he wanted to DANCE. He wanted to MOVE. He HAD to do SOMETHING. The two were bobbing along to a bassline that started. With a grin, Joe turned to face him. 

“Hey! Do you think it’ll be _Ice Ice Baby_ or _Under Pressure_?”   
It wasn’t that funny, but Ben laughed like Joe had just said the most hilarious joke he’d ever heard. “ _Under Pressure_!” When it proved to be _Ice Ice Baby_ instead, the two lost their minds. 

“Oh my god, I can’t breathe,” Joe said before collapsing back on the couch from whence he started. “Hey, hey, hey, hey,” he said, tapping Ben’s forearm several times when he sat down next to him. “If I could make a strain, I’d call it….. Uh…. GLUM! I’d call it Glum Joe. It would instantly make you happier.”   
“Then every celebrity would pay you zillions of dollars for it, honestly. Why Glum Joe?”   
“Because I… am very glum. Glum is a stupid word, actually, but it rather fits, don’t you think?” Joe rolled his head to look at him  
Ben gave an exaggerated frown. “Aw, why are you sad?”   
“GLUM. I said glum, not sad. I’m feeling glum because I’m tragically single. I definitely got dumped this morning.” Joe closed his eyes for a moment, tapping his feet to the beat of _Ice Ice Baby._

“Oh. I’m sorry,” he could hear him say. Opening his eyes again, he could fully see how dilated Ben’s pupils were. 

He started laughing again, to the other’s confusion. “Sorry, sorry. You’re just so fucking high.”   
This made Ben laugh too and the two were practically crying on the couch when Rami passed by and saw them. 

“Joe?” He asked, seeing his friend’s head snap up to look at him. “Jesus, are you stoned?”   
“I may or not be. It’s a Schrödinger's cat situation. I both am and am not stoned until you crack me open.” Saying this with a winning smile did not exactly help his case, but it helped solidify Rami’s question. 

Ben leaned over and tried to whisper, but it was still loud. “I don’t think it works like that.”   
“Oh, shit.”   
Rami exhaled from his nose, shaking his head with a small grin. “Who’s this? New friend?”   
“It’s Ben. I don’t know him.”   
“Right. He doesn’t know me.”   
“Well, nice to meet you Ben, but Joe will you be ready to leave in about an hour? You can stay at my house tonight if you want to avoid your parents finding out you’re high.” He watched him nod a few times before finally leaving. 

He sighed, “Sorry, Ben-I-don’t-know. I guess I have to leave in an hour. Next time you have golden whatever-”   
“Goat,” Ben interjected.

“Golden whatever, you should definitely hit me up again. Just waltz into my house and announce you have WEED!” 

“I don’t even know where you live!” The other exclaimed, looking into his eyes with such sincere wistfulness.

“Here, wait, I’ll give you my address.” Joe reached for a pad of paper and pen on the coffee table, scribbling something out quickly and handing it to him. 

Ben stared at it blankly for a moment, wondering if he was stupid and just didn’t understand it or something. “Joe, this is a drawing of a house.”   
From there, Joe completely lost it. _I am the FUNNIEST man ALIVE!_ He thought before sitting it up straight and looking at him seriously. “I would give you my address, but I can’t seem to remember it right now. Two much information flying around.” 

The two continued to talk for Joe’s remaining time there. He found himself feeling rather less glum, which was good, he supposed. It was sad when he had to go though. Rami came, pulling his arm so he would actually leave. For some reason, it reminded him of a parent struggling as they try to take their child home after making a new friend on a park playground. 

“Sorry I have to go. It’s a shame, I know. If I ever see you again I’ll make sure to say hi, I suppose.” Joe shrugged. 

Ben gave a small wave goodbye and the two were soon parted. Afterward, Joe did in fact go to Rami’s house, too obviously high to get past his own front doors without an intervention from his parents. It took another few hours for him to get over the high feeling and pass out, ending the night with a rather blissfully calm feeling, rather than his original crippling glumness. 

 

The first Monday back at school, Joe was tiredly putting a textbook in his locker when he saw someone weirdly familiar pass by. He turned, watching them pass by for a moment before the memory snapped back into his mind. 

“Ben?” he called out, seeing the guy turn around with a surprised look on his face, obviously not expecting to be called. 

Recognition passed over his eyes as Ben broke into a smile. “Oh! Oh my god, uhh… Joe. Joe, right?” 

He nodded with an awkward grin. “Yeah, that’s me. That’s my name.” 

“Well, it’s cool seeing you again. Hey, I have to go catch a teacher now but I’ll make sure to find you sometime later. Okay?”  

“Yeah, okay.”   
“Cool.”   
“Cool.”   
Ben left, but Joe still felt pretty happy. Seeing him again was neat. The opposite of glum, sort of. Perhaps he could make a new friend out of this. He set a mental reminder to worship the golden goat gods later as he continued down the hallway to find his own friends and continue the day with a better attitude.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed lmao  
> thank you for reading, bud  
> (make sure you're getting enough sleep and drinking enough water. and yes, i'm talking to you)


End file.
